Posted on June 25, 2009 at 12:19 am Good day. I own a small flower shop with considerable credit card debt. Could you give me suggestions on how to eliminate the debt problem? How can we be able to lower our interest rate?

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 12:29 am Why not file for Chapter11 bankruptcy?? That will give you less to worry about!

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 1:22 am Well bankruptcy may be an option for you, but take note that it may cause you more harm than good in terms of your financial standing. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years, similar to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You can actually go for a debt settlement. That way, you will be paying for an amount less than you actually owe, and be able to acquire savings on your end to use for your business as well.

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 1:37 am A balance transfer seems like a great idea for you too. What you just need to do is transfer your credit card balances, preferably the ones with really high interest rates, onto a credit card or a bunch of credit cards with a new credit card that has 0% or low interest rate. After all introductory interest rates are at around 5% or less. At least your debt amounts won't go so high this time around.

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 2:14 am Balance transfers are not a very advisable option for you at this time. Why get another debt if you already ARE in debt? I think that's crazy. It's like rubbing salt on wounds, you're making your situation worse than it actually is.

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 2:44 am I still think it's a good option, better than filing for bankruptcy.In fact I found a helpful article that may be of interest to you guys. It's about the Small Business Administration's loan program specifically made for small business owners. It was just recently made available to these entrepreneurs and may be of great help to people like Penny Loafer. There are certain qualifitications for this loan, too, and you can find out more about them here:http://startup.partnerup.com/2009/06/09/sba-to-bring-debt-relief-to-small-business-owners/

Posted on June 29, 2009 at 2:43 am If anything you can actually file for a Chapter 13 of bankruptcy, given that you are an entrepreneur. You're eligible to file as long as your unsecured debts are less than $336,900 and your secured debts are less than $1,010,650. However bear in mind that if your business is a corporation or a partnership, you may not be qualified to be a chapter 13 debtor.

Posted on June 29, 2009 at 5:05 am Okay Penny Loafer may not be getting the best options for her here as the discussion's revolving around bankruptcy vs. consolidation loans. Sheesh!Both have their advantages, I agree on that. Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 in particular, allows you to pay off your loans within 3-5 years. It also works like a consolidation loan of sorts, because you'll be paying your bankruptcy trustee your loan payments, and in turn they will distribute all your payments to your creditor. However, the repercussions of bankruptcy are crippling--Chapter 13 will stay on your credit report as much as seven years, and you may also have difficulty applying for credit in the future, once your future lenders see that notation on your credit report.Debt consolidation loans on the other hand do not get to the heart of the matter--getting a loan to obtain another loan really does not solve the problem of how you got into debt in the first place, and it may give you a harder time to pay everything off in the long run. More often than not you may acquire a secured consolidation loan in the form of a home equity loan. It may have a lesser amt of interest compared to other loans, but you are putting your home at risk. If you default on this type of loan, you may lose your house.

Posted on June 29, 2009 at 5:24 am Right Purple Cow. In fact just to jump from what Caffeinatrix mentioned, a settlement can actually help you much in terms of relieving your business's debt. It can remove between 40-60% of your current debt amount and it's payable in 24-48 months. If you would like to know more about your other options, you can fill out a form on DestroyDebt.Com and you'll be matched with a qualified provider. The service is free, and it won't hurt.

Posted on July 10, 2009 at 3:21 am since you're worried about your Interest Rate, i think you can also try credit counseling